2017 In Spaceflight
Notable spaceflight activities in 2017 included the maiden flight, maiden orbital flight of India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (also called LVM3) on 5 June and the first suborbital test of Rocket Lab's Electron rocket, inaugurating the Mahia spaceport in New Zealand. The rocket is named for its innovative Rutherford (rocket engine), Rutherford engine which feeds propellants via Electric pump-fed engine, battery-powered electric motors instead of the usual gas generator and turbopumps. Overview China launched its new missile-derived Kaituozhe-2 variant on 2 March. The Japanese S-Series (rocket family)#SS-520-4, SS-520, a suborbital sounding rocket modified for orbital flight, failed to reach orbit in January. If successful, it would have become the smallest and lightest vehicle to ever put an object in orbit. The venerable Russian Soyuz-U workhorse was retired after its 786th mission on 22 February. On 30 March, the SES-10 mission was launched with a ...
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